theVandermarks.com » potty training

Finally catching up on posting photos

Karen — Mon, 04 May 2009 00:10:52 +0000

Wow, it’s crazy how fast a couple months can fly by! I’ve finally gotten around to posting all the photos from the past couple months. Some have been up on the site for a while, as you may have seen from the changes in Recent Photos, but I never got around to publishing the links to them. The highlights:

Cole’s 14th Birthday: Grandma Pat and Papa Bob came by to celebrate with us, and after having cake and opening presents, we all went bowling, a fun birthday present courtesy of Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn. Even Debbie and Ben joined in the fun.
Mar – Apr 2009:
- My birthday, which I celebrated by making a donation to Locks of Love with 11 inches of my hair. We also spent a day at Mom and Dad’s house.
- Trip to the Children’s Museum to see the Clifford the Big Red Dog exhibit along with the usual fun stuff. It was Cole’s spring break, so he joined us, as did Grandma Pat.
- Easter: the egg hunt in town, a visit from the Easter Bunny, and special Easter baskets from Grandpa Dan and Grandma Marilyn
- Baseball: Zach & Alex get their first gloves, and Cole’s first game of the season
- Alex wears big boy underwear for the first time after staying dry for 2 days! He was really excited to wear his new Star Wars underwear.

Oh my, they’re getting so big!

Karen — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:32:57 +0000

Zach and Alex crossed another milestone today, when we took the crib tents out and changed the cribs over to “big boy” beds this morning. They were SO excited – they even helped Daddy by using their own tools on the bed and hanging on to the screws. The last time we tried this at 18 months old when they started climbing out of the cribs, it did not go well – hence the crib tents that, to me, are easily one of the all-time greatest inventions. Now, 18 months later, the tents are falling apart and the boys seemed ready for the transition now that they are almost 3.

Right now, at nearly 10:30 PM, I’d say it’s going fairly well even though we went in to shush them about 15 minutes ago. I think that had more to do with the excitement of birthday presents and cake from their party today than it did the bed. Besides, they’ve stayed in their beds the whole time even though they were still talking. That’s a huge win in my book, esp compared to last time!

The other big recent milestones? We now have them in booster seats instead of high chairs at their meals. They’ve done so well that we’ve cleaned up the high chairs in preparation to give them to someone else. They’re also wearing Pull-ups a lot now, which they are quite proud of, although they still don’t use the potty real consistently.

All this and they turn 3 in a couple days – my little babies are turning into big boys so quickly!

“Mommy, I’m a big boy!!”

Karen — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 03:52:57 +0000

Our little strong-willed Zach has had no interest in using the potty. We’d occasionally get him to sit on it, but he usually finds bathtime much more interesting and wants to go straight in. Alex uses it every night before or after the bath and occasionally makes attempts during the day, but if you ask Zach if he wants to go, he replies with a resounding “No!”

Well, today he decided he needed to go #2, so I got him on the potty – and he actually went both #1 and #2! We made such a big deal about it that I think Zach might actually be motivated to try that again. Here’s hoping!

Yep, it’s official – I’m a sappy mom who gets excited about poop – and the idea of not needing to buy diapers in bulk at Costco.

Hooray Alex!

Karen — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 21:08:16 +0000

In a move that thrilled Mommy and Daddy beyond belief, Alex used the potty for the very first time today. We’ve been encouraging the boys to sit on the potty before bathtime, and for the first time, Alex actually went potty in it. He sure was proud of himself, especially when he got high-fives from Mommy, Daddy, and Cole. This was after asking to go to the potty during his bath yesterday and sitting there for long time to “work on poop”; Zach has done this a couple times too so he might be getting close too.

We know we’ve got a long way to go through this process, but we’re thrilled that we’re getting started on it with them. I wanted to get a picture, but Joe wouldn’t let me embarrass him with that (he’s no fun).

Part of me really feels silly for getting so excited about poop and going potty (ah, the simple joys of parenthood), but in addition to being excited about a new milestone in the boys’ lives, it sure is nice to know there is a light at the end of the tunnel through the mounds and mounds of diapers!